ATP Player Collapses on Court After Ball Kid Accidentally Hits Him

Stefan Kozlov has yet to progress to a semifinal in Challenger events this year.

ATP Player Collapses on Court After Ball Kid Accidentally Hits Him

A ball kid accidentally hit Stefan Kozlov (Image via Bloomberg, X/Mario)

In Short
  • Stefan Kozlov collapsed on court after being accidentally hit in the eye by a ball kid during a Challenger tournament.
  • He faced criticism for his reaction, which some fans deemed exaggerated, but later apologized for his response.
  • Kozlov has struggled in recent tournaments, suffering early exits and previously losing in the fourth round of another event.

Stefan Kozlov found himself on the receiving end of criticism after an incident involving a ball kid in a Challenger tournament. At the Morelia Open, the American ace suffered an opening-round exit.

He lost to compatriot Andres Martin 6-2, 6-2. In the first game of the second set, a ball kid accidentally hit him on the face. Although it was a slow-moving ball, Kozlov fell on the court and reacted as if the ball had struck him with great force.

He appeared to be in great pain as the ball had hit him in the eye. The ball kid, as well as the chair umpire, checked on him to see if everything was alright.

Watch the video here:

Kozlov, who mostly plays on the Challenger Tour, suffered another early-round exit in a tournament of this level this season. Before arriving in Morelia, he played in Cuernavaca, where he lost in the fourth round to compatriot Michael Mmoh.

Stefan Kozlov apologizes after being accused of overreacting

Some fans called out Stefan Kozlov after that aforementioned ball kid incident, claiming the slow-moving ball couldn’t have caused such pain as to make Kozlov collapse. But the 28-year-old hit back.

Stefan Kozlov
Stefan Kozlov (Image via tennisnet.com)

Doesn’t matter how slow the ball was, I wasn’t looking and it hit me square in the eye. Over exaggerated, yeah. Faking that’s just stupid.

Stefan Kozlov wrote on X

Check out his post here:

But he also apologized for his reaction and admitted that he, too, thinks he had overreacted.

After some reflection I want to apologize for my reaction after being hit in the eye yesterday. It was an accident, and I shouldn’t have responded the way I did. I let emotions of a difficult time on court get the best of me in that moment. I take responsibility and I’m sorry to the ball kid and everyone involved.

Stefan Kozlov wrote on X

Check out his post here:

He also interacted with a few users, one of whom asked him whether he really was physically unwell during his round of 32 match against Grigor Dimitrov at the 2022 Mexican Open.

These kind of questions is when I realize how dumb tennis twitter is. Think about it for a second, I break to serve for the match 7-6 5-3 why in the world would I tank the next 4 games if it wasn’t real? You know how hard it is to play against these guys?

Stefan Kozlov wrote

Check out his post here:

Kozlov reached the 2022 Mexican Open as a lucky loser after fighting cramps. In what was also the longest match in the tournament’s history, Kozlov defeated the former World No.3 with a 7-6, 5-7, 6-3 scoreline to register the biggest win of his career.

Kozlov has so far played a combined 20 Challenger and ITF finals, winning 11 titles. The last time he reached a final was at the 2014 Sacramento Challenger, where he lost to Sam Querrey. In Grand Slam events, he produced his best performance when he reached the second round of the 2022 Australian Open, losing the match in four sets to Matteo Berrettini.

Dimitrov, on the other hand, recently played the Miami Open, where his run was ended by Raphael Collignon in the first round. It was his sixth consecutive defeat in the early rounds of a tournament this year.

Dimitrov made his comeback at the 2025 Paris Masters after recovering from the right pectoral injury he suffered during his fourth-round match against eventual champion Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon the same year. The Bulgarian ace took the first two sets off the four-time Grand Slam champion before he collapsed and left the court in tears.

Also read: Iga Swiatek’s Physiotherapist Dives Into the Coaching Shakeup After Miami Open Exit